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Chrome Rims -- Where The Real Bling Is At

Wahington DC June 2, 2005; The AIADA newsletter reported that a Washington Post report Thursday features the ever-expanding rim business -- the $3.1 billion powerhouse of the $31 billion after-market industry that caters to Americans’ desire for automobiles and glitz and glamour.

"Rims are more of a fashion statement rather than an automotive one," says Peter MacGillivray of the Specialty Equipment Market Association, the California-based agency that promotes and tracks the $31 billion after-market car modification industry. "People have really bought into the idea that their car is a reflection of themselves, their personality."

According to the Post, “There is no precise genesis for rims trade, but there is certainly precedent. Americans have a long history of turning the ordinary into the stylish and perhaps outrageously expensive... For rims, the beginning was about five or six years ago among members of the West Coast-based "tuning" culture.” Akin to the “performance engines, fins, and new grills” that appeared on cars in rap videos and movies, soon came the “chrome-laden” custom rims of "The Fast and the Furious" and MTV’s "Pimp My Ride."

Says Ernie Boehm, the designer responsible for Shaq’s wheels: "It started out as a hip-hop thing, but now I get calls from everyone from rappers to movie producers to some lawyer’s secretary, setting up an appointment for them.” And not just rims, the Post adds, “There are fads... within a $3 billion trade. Spinners, the insets within the wheel that keep turning after you stop, have peaked. Floaters, insets that remain still while you drive -- giving the appearance the wheel isn’t turning at all -- are the new hottie.”